By Shaun Penner

Substance use surveillance

Grande Prairie sees 22 opioid overdose deaths in first 10 months of 2020

Dec 18, 2020 | 3:22 PM

Accidental opioid overdoses claimed the lives of 22 people in Grande Prairie in the first 10 months of 2020.

The fatalities were unveiled as Alberta Health launched a new interactive reporting site for its substance use surveillance report. It will now be updated monthly, rather than quarterly, and provide more in-depth data on the province’s fight against the opioid crisis.

Alberta Health says of the 22 opioid poisoning deaths in the Swan City between January and October 2020, 21 were related to a non-pharmaceutical opioid. The province’s health ministry classifies substances such as fentanyl, carfentanil and heroin as non-pharmaceutical.

Both September and October saw the highest number of deaths linked to non-pharmaceuticals, where four people died each month in Grande Prairie.

The 21 deaths in Grande Prairie related to non-pharmaceuticals is three off of 2019’s total when 24 people died from an apparent opioid overdose-related to fentanyl. Twenty-three people died of the same cause in 2018.

The rate at which fatal opioid overdoses have occurred in Grande Prairie in 2020 sits at 35 per 100,000 person-years. The provincial rate sits at 27.7, while Lethbridge has the highest death rate of all urban centres in Alberta. They sit with a rate of 50.9 deaths per 100,000.

A total of 1,029 Albertans died in the first 10 months of the year from a drug poisoning death which includes from substances like alcohol. A total of 904 Albertans died from a drug poisoning related to any opioid, including pharmaceuticals, during that same time.

This has already surpassed Alberta’s deadliest year related to opioids. In 2018, 806 Albertans died of an opioid overdose.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is not the only public health crisis in Alberta,” said Premier Jason Kenney, who announced the new reporting system during a press conference Friday. “Thousands of Albertans continue to battle mental health and addictions issues, oftentimes made more difficult by public health measures.”

An average of 90 people have died per month in Alberta from an opioid overdose in 2020. Alberta also saw it’s highest monthly death toll come in July, when 142 people died from an overdose. Monthly fatalities have seen a decline since that peak.

Deaths by month in Alberta due to an opioid overdose (Photo: Alberta Health)

In the first 10 months of this year, EMS in Grande Prairie responded to 91 opioid-related events, including 16 in October. That is tied for the busiest month of the year with July.

Alberta Health also says the Grande Prairie Supervised Consumption Site has seen a decrease in visits since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1,441 visits were recorded between July and September, which is down from the 3,172 visits the site reported between January and March.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the opioid crisis can also be seen in the drop in patients attending treatment clinics. In Grande Prairie, 30 patients enrolled in the opioid dependency program for treatment. That number dropped to as low as one in July.

As for the new reporting site, the province says it is the most detailed and comprehensive reporting system in Canada.

“This new data system will give us better insights into addiction issues, help us respond with better measures to support recovery, and ultimately support our overall goal of protecting lives and livelihoods through this pandemic and beyond.”

The new, full report on Alberta’s substance use surveillance can be found here.